There’s just something magical about music. It can evoke emotion and bind people together in a was that few other things can. This week, @CO and I are so excited to share the project we’ve been working on with you. It’s a one-of-kind design of a set of three cabinets to hold our friend Andy's massive record collection.
Andy started his project in xDesign with a layout sketch to capture all of the critical dimensions. From there he modeled the various pieces of a long cabinet and two tall speaker stand cabinets.
To add a bit of flair to the project, Andy used xGenerative Design (not included in the SOLIDWORKS for Makers license) to create a unique pattern. He combined a Fibonacci spiral and a Voronoi. Both of these mathematical marvels can be found all around us in nature.
xGenerative Design uses a unique approach to modeling, allowing you to connect together different nodes and programmatically generate geometry. It’s really powerful stuff that can quickly build shapes that would be impractical to build in any other way.
Once the design was finished, we cut all of the intricate details out with a CNC router.
We talked a lot about how to fasten all of the parts together, and we ended up using a variety of techniques. Our choices were influenced by aesthetics and strength. First and foremost, we didn’t want any visible fasteners, and of course, we wanted the unit to be strong enough to hole the weight of over 500 records! So we chose the best method for each case, which included dados, screws, dowels, and gussets.
Applying finish to the pieces was fun. The only practical way to do so was with a paint sprayer. It allowed us to get into all of the nooks and crannies of the design. We sprayed 4 coats of a hybrid water and oil polyurethane finish. On a warm, dry day, the coats dried in less than 20 minutes, so we could sand and reapply very quickly.
The last thing we had to do was mount the hinges for the speaker stand doors and then transport the pieces to Andy’s house. They look great in their new home!
Be sure to check out this video to see how the whole project came together.
If you’d like to download this design, you’ll find a native xDesign file (3DXML) as well as a neutral file (STEP) in the ZIP file below. We’ve also included an oversized DXF of Andy’s pattern, so you can include any portion of it in one of your own designs.
